Irish Silver Counter Dish

This pretty little dish was my first piece of holloware.  It is an Irish silver counter dish, and was once in the collection of Dr. Theodore Gross and formed part of the Gross Collection of silver at the New Orleans Museum of Art.  I have tentatively attributed it to John Hamilton and dated it to 1723, which conclusion is assisted by the absence of the Hibernia mark.  The 22-lobe dish is 4 3/8 inches in diameter and weighs 3.16 troy ounces.  The scalloping along the edge of the dish is my favorite feature, and I think it a fine and distinguishing detail.  Remnants of a crest, especially the wreath, are visible to the center, and I believe the crest has been worn away through use and polishing rather than by erasure.  Although it is not a spoon tray by definition, that is what I use the little dish for.  It makes having a cup of tea that much more special.

Front and reverse of counter dish.  I love the camera reflection.

Close-up of scalloping and hallmarks.

As the right-hand photograph in the first set of photos shows, there are two scratch weights on the back of the dish, the one closest to the foot rim of 3 oz. 1 dwt. and the other 3 oz. 6 dwt.  This is puzzling to me, and I have thought a lot about why there are two scratch weights.  Which scratch weight was there first?  Was the piece re-weighed at some point?  For what reason?  I had thought that perhaps the foot rim was added to the piece later, at which point a new scratch weight was put on to reflect the new weight.  It also appears that the number of pennyweights in the scratch weight in the middle was scraped away and the "6" put above the erasure.  Does anyone have any insight to help solve the Mystery of the Two Scratch Weights?

Ladyman. John Ladyman.

I was an incredibly lucky girl to buy these beauties:

Front and back of pair of tablespoons by John Ladyman, London, 1712; close-up of hallmarks

They weigh a gorgeous 160 grams and are quite honestly the most beautiful spoons I have come across.  The bowls are shaped slightly differently than those of my other spoons, a bit shorter and rounder.  They are nice and thick throughout and absolutely wonderful in the hand.  As the hallmarks show, the spoons were made by John Ladyman in London in 1712.  Although I didn't know it at the time, these spoons were a portent of things to come.  The next spoons I purchased were two teaspoons, both by Mr. Ladyman.  I also bought six dessert spoons by him.

From left to right: front and back of teaspoon, Britannia standard, no date letter; dessert spoon, 1702; teaspoon, Britannia standard, no date letter, all by John Ladyman; close-up of hallmarks

In addition to drawing me to other spoons by John Ladyman, that first pair of spoons seemed to draw me to other spoons with a maker's mark of LA, such as two spoons by George Lambe and one by his wife, Jane.

From left to right: front and back of tablespoon, London, 1716, George Lambe; tablespoon, London, 1724, Jane Lambe; tablespoon, London, 1718, George Lambe; close-up of hallmarks

Are there certain maker's marks that you collect?  Was that a conscious decision, or did it happen by accident? 

Falling in Love With Silver

Who can forget their first piece of silver?  The first piece of silver I purchased was an Irish dessert spoon, made in 1811 with maker's mark for Richard Sawyer.  I was at an antique fair in Bunratty, Ireland, which is where I had my first exposure to antique silver.  I knew absolutely nothing at that point about silver, and had very limited funds, but I knew one thing for certain: I loved silver.  I spent hours walking around that fair, looking at every piece of silver probably 15 times before I decided what to buy.  One small dealer had three three-pronged Irish forks that he said were early, but I couldn't justify spending 400 Euro on them.  I frequently regret passing those forks up.  Well, you know what they say about hindsight... The spoon I did buy now adds a bit of sparkle to the office kitchen.

After the fair, I purchased a pocket book of silver hallmarks and read Douglas Bennett's Collecting Irish Silver at the library.  After reading more books and looking at more silver, I found I was drawn to plain early silver, and especially Britannia-standard spoons: I could afford them, and I could use them.  The higher silver content and the short time span when the standard was compulsory were also appealing.  I purchased my first Britannia-standard spoon about 7 or 8 years ago.  It's a tablespoon by Isaac Davenport, made in London in 1714, illustrated below.  Having learned a bit more about spoons of this period since my purchase, I now can observe that there appears to be an erasure to the reverse, there are later engraved initials to the front of the spoon, and the bowl seems to have been modified at some point. 

Front and back views of tablespoon, London, 1714, Isaac Davenport

Hallmarks for Isaac Davenport, London, 1714 and engraved initials to the front of the spoon

Now I focus my collecting on Britannia-standard flatware in the Hanoverian pattern that dates from the reign of Queen Anne, as well as on unique holloware.

How did you become interested in silver?  What was your first piece?  What is your silver collection focused on?  I'd love to hear from you.

Links to Antique Silver Dealers

The following sites are those I visit regularly.  I have had the good fortune to speak or correspond with some of the proprietors, and my inquiries have always been eagerly welcomed, and their knowledge and advice freely given.  It is always nice to speak with someone who shares a similar passion for silver and who is willing to patiently answer the many questions of a new collector!

Dealers located in the United States:

• The Britannia House
• Firestone and Parson 
• Kahn Fine Antiques
• Millicent Ford Creech
• M.S. Rau Antiques 
• Ralph Holt
• Robert Lloyd 
• Shrubsole
• S. Wyler, Inc.

Dealer in Canada:

•  Justin Tee Antiques
  

 Dealers in the United Kingdom:

• Alastair Dickenson 
• Antique Silver Spoons
• Coritani
• Daniel Bexfield 
• Early Silver Spoons
• Henry Willis 
• Jack Shaw & Co.
• Mary Cooke Antiques LTD 
• Mayflower Antiques 
• Michael Baggott Antiques 
• My Family Silver 
• Paul Bennett
• Peter Cameron Antique Silver 
• Sanda Lipton 
• Schredds
• Silfren 
• Styles Silver

 Dealers in Ireland:

• L&W Duvallier
• Weldons of Dublin

 Dealers in South Africa and Australia:

• Leopard Antiques
• Rutherford
  

 Resources:

• The Finial - Journal of the Silver Spoon Club of Great Britain 
• The Silver Society 
• My Family Silver - Family Crest Finder 

Crests and Coats of Arms on Flatware

Today I'd like to talk about engravings on flatware, and post some photos from my little collection.  While I don't collect flatware based on the crest, the crests and engravings definitely add to the piece's interest.  It's always fun to try and find the families associated with the crests, although it's quite difficult to attribute a crest to one specific family since the same crest was used by several.

The crests with mottoes are easier to attribute.  I have attributed the tablespoon below with the motto "Lock Sicker" to the Douglas family, who were the Earls of Morton, and, based on the 1717 date of the spoon, tentatively suggest that it belonged to George Douglas, 13th Earl of Morton, who was born in 1662 and died in 1738.  He didn't succeed to the earldom until 1730, and at that time didn't add an earl's coronet to this spoon.  I have seen several pieces of silver that appear to have a later earl's coronet engraved over an earlier coat of arms or crest, presumably done so that the owner's dinner guests would be apprised of his updated status.  One of George Douglas's brothers, James, died in 1715, too early to have had this spoon made, and the next brother, Robert, succeeded to the earldom in 1715.  I would assume that had Robert had this spoon made in 1717, he would have had an earl's coronet included in the engraving.  Thank you to The Douglas Archive for supplying information on the Earls of Morton.

I have attributed the crest and motto "Festina Lente" on the Britannia-standard spoon below of 1724 to Sir Martin Westcombe, 1st Baronet, consul and agent at Cadiz, Spain.  "Festina Lente" translates as "hasten slowly."  I'm digging its oxymoronicity.

The stag's crest on the table fork below is actually the crest used by the Austen family, as in Jane Austen. Of course, several other families used this crest, and based on the fact that the coat of arms on the front of the fork seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with the Austen family, and I can't date the fork, *sigh* I have given up hope that Jane herself might have eaten from this very fork.

The only other piece of flatware that I can attribute to a specific family is the 1712 spoon with the coat of arms and the letters "MT" below it.  This one I have attributed to the Weld family, so the "MT" might be a later addition.


The engravings on the reverse of the spoons and forks I have can be organized into the following types: crests, crests with motto, coats of arms, cypher, and initials.  Below are a few photos of these types.  (Apologies for the less-than-stellar photography skills.)

From left to right: bull crest, table fork, Dublin, 1789, Michael Keating; stag crest, table fork, marks worn; arm in armour crest, dessert fork, London, 1736, John Smith

From left to right: stork crest, tablespoon, London, 1712, John Ladyman; griffin crest, dessert spoon, 1702, John Ladyman; owl crest, tablespoon, London, 1716, George Lambe; man crest, tablespoon, London, 1718, George Lambe

From left to right: Lock Sicker motto, tablespoon, London, 1717, Andrew Archer; Festina Lente crest, tablespoon, London, 1724, Jane Lambe; cypher, tablespoon, London, 1709, Joseph Barbut; crest, tablespoon, London, 1712, maker's mark worn

From left to right: NHS, tablespoon, London, no date letter, Thomas Sadler; LH, table fork, London, 1711, Andrew Archer; AW, tablespoon, London, 1714, Isaac Davenport

From left to right: DF, teaspoon, London, no date letter, John Ladyman; crest, front of table fork, marks unclear; EI, teaspoon, London, no date letter, Samuel Hitchcock

I think my favorite crest is the one of the griffin, in the second photo, engraved on the back of a set of darling dognose dessert spoons.  I would love to see the crests and engravings on your flatware.  I am also curious to know if any of you have flatware with the same engravings as I have posted.

Sources:
"The Austen Coat of Arms and Seal." Austenonly. WordPress, 9 Mar. 2012.
       Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
"The Earls of Morton." The Douglas Archives: a Collection of Historical and 
       Genealogical Records. The Douglas Archives, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.